FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2003

CUMMINGS SIGNS ACQUIRES COLLINS SIGNS, INC.

NASHVILLE, TENN., MAY 9, 2003—Cummings Signs today announced it has purchased selected assets of Collins Signs, Inc. of Dothan, Alabama and said the combination will result in total revenues of approximately $100 million.

The combined companies, which will operate as Cummings Signs and be headquartered in Nashville, will be among the top three largest in the sign industry nation-wide. The client roster will include more than 60 of the country’s best-known national brands.

The combined companies will employ more than 600 people in 8 locations in Tennessee, Alabama, California, Texas, and Kentucky.

Cummings President and CEO Stephen R. Kerr and Collins Signs, Inc. Chairman and Founder John Collins jointly made the announcement and termed the deal “a combination with tremendous synergy, including a greatly enhanced capability in engineering, manufacturing and project management to benefit our customers.”

Collins will remain as vice-chairman and will focus on national account sales and service.

Kerr said, “John Collins has built a fine operation over the past 28 years. They had encountered some economy-related difficulties which caused us to explore this opportunity, however, this is a fine company with great employees and an excellent reputation for quality products. We’re delighted to be a part of its return to full operation.”

“Importantly,” Kerr said, “The combination results in a stronger financial capacity and we have achieved a refinancing that provides excellent liquidity from day one.”

Collins said, “This combination makes a lot of sense for us because Cummings brings expertise in sales and marketing as well as an administrative structure that will allow us to better deploy our capabilities. They are structured very similar to us and also have a solid manufacturing capability. There are synergies with the two companies that just makes a lot of sense and the customer base of both operations will benefit.”

“Simply put,” Kerr said, “there isn’t any national brand signage program the combined companies can’t do and do well. Particularly exciting is the opportunity to combine two of the industry’s most advanced web and electronic based systems, including three-dimensional “look-in” work site capabilities.”

“The Collins operation is particularly noted for its innovation and quality in engineering and manufacturing,” Kerr said, “and we expect to benefit from those capabilities and expertise.”

Collins Signs, Inc. provides signage on a regional and national basis for more than 30 major brands, including Burger King, Marriott, Hilton, BP/Amoco, Saab, Mitsubishi, Arby’s, Citibank, Dairy Queen and Liberty Mutual Insurance among others.

Cummings’ 30-plus national brand customers include Chrysler, Chevron, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s, A&W, Church’s Chicken, Fleet Bank, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, CVS Pharmacy and Family Dollar.

Thomas L. Cummings, Jr., founded Cummings Signs in Nashville in 1946. The company launched a national presence as the first to produce and install the original Holiday Inns of America signage. That success was followed in the late sixties with participation in the massive dealership identity programs for Ford Motor Company and General Motors.

In 1998, Kerr and Stephen Lynn, who serves as Chairman, purchased majority interest in the company, with the Cummings family maintaining a minority ownership. Tom Cummings, III, continues as part of the senior management team. Lynn and Kerr had previously partnered in business in Oklahoma City where both were involved in corporate and civic leadership.

At the time of the purchase, the new owners announced a growth strategy that would include acquisition and expansion within the industry. The Collins Sign purchase is the third step in that strategy, following purchase in 1999 of Industrial Machining and Signs, a channel letter manufacturer in Knoxville and the establishment in 2000 of Cummings West, a production facility in Riverside, California.

John Collins had been the sole owner of Collins Signs, Inc. since its founding in 1974. The company operates manufacturing facilities totaling 375,000 square feet. Its emphasis on engineering and technology has helped the company establish a reputation as the most automated sign manufacturer in the world. It is a major producer of channel letters for signage and specializes in turnkey programs for national customers.

Cummings Signs
Phone: 615-244-1818
E-Mail: hank.dye@dvl.com